Charley Hull went viral in 2024. Is a breakout season next?

The past 12 months had it all — crazy winning streaks, new major champs, a major-week arrest (!) and more. With 2025 on the horizon, our writers are looking back at the most memorable moments from 2024.

Biggest Golf Moments of 2024 No. 15: Charley Hull goes viral

Oddly enough, it started with a cigarette. Charley Hull took it from there.

As Nelly Korda staked her claim on the women’s golf world — winning seven times in 16 starts, including five straight — it was Hull, the 28-year-old English pro, who rivaled Korda’s popularity late in 2024.

Back in June, GOLF’s Seen and Heard video series captured Hull puffing on a cigarette while signing autographs at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. The video went viral, and so did Hull. She gained more than 70,000 Instagram followers in two days.

“It’s actually quite funny,” Hull said that week. “I don’t know, all over a cigarette, I suppose. But I genuinely was walking to the range, had my hands full, someone asked me for an autograph, I’m not going to say no because I always like signing autographs. Had a cigarette in my mouth, signed it, and then it’s gone viral. I don’t know. It’s just one of them things. But it’s been crazy. Like the fans have been shouting my name this week. Someone said I’ve dropped something and then handed their phone number on a piece of paper in my hand. He was like, ‘Here’s my number. Text me so we can figure out where I’m taking you out for dinner tonight.’ I never texted him obviously, but it was just so funny.

“It’s been a bit of a wild week.”

But her popularity endured long past Lancaster. The more Hull spoke with the media — fresh, unfiltered (no pun intended) and with a clever English wit — the more observers continued to be intrigued. She gained fans on the course, borrowed lighters and even fielded requests to autograph cigs.

More important, her game drew the attention it deserved as well.

Hull tied for 19th at the U.S. Women’s Open, added another top 20 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and finished 5th at the Scottish Open. She was top 20 in her final six events of the year, which included a victory at the Aramco Team Series Riyadh event to snap a two-year winless drought.

Hull’s biggest week came in September, when she secured a team-high 3 points for Europe at the Solheim Cup and dominated Korda, the world’s best player, in Sunday singles. The U.S. cruised to a 15.5-12.5 win, but Hull’s 6-and-4 victory over Korda in the first match of the day sparked storylines focusing on the potential for the women’s game’s next big rivalry.

The Korda-Hall dynamic was fueled again last month at The Annika, when Hull held the 54-hole lead and was in the final threesome with Korda and Weiwei Zhang.

Korda won (Hull tied for second), but perhaps it was a precursor for what’s to come. Korda is firmly established as the No. 1 player in the world, but Hull’s now up to 10th. She’s still won only twice on the LPGA Tour — her last victory came in 2022 — and she’s had five top 10s in each of the last three years. She’s always been a long hitter, but her ball-striking (4th) and greens in regulation (8th) made major leaps in 2024.

Any sport is better with a rivalry, even if it’s a friendly one like Korda and Hull’s. Will there be more of it in 2025? Will Hull’s results keep pace with her newfound popularity?

“If you think I’ve got a lot of personality on the golf course, you should see what my life is like at home,” Hull said. “But yeah, it is quite funny. I’m just me. You don’t know what’s coming out of my mouth next. I don’t know what’s coming out of my mouth next. It’s one of them things. I’m just me. I’m not going to change for the world. I’ll just be me, and people will either like it or lump it.”